


debate.

by grrriliketigers



Series: Los Angeles High School Fandom Mix & Match [2]
Category: Major Crimes (TV), The Closer
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crossover Parents, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3898336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grrriliketigers/pseuds/grrriliketigers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU. Brenda is captain of the debate team and needs one more member in order to be eligible to compete so she swallows her pride and asks Sharon Raydor to join but gets more than she bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deal With The Devil

**Author's Note:**

> I did start this in 2011 but I wrote more than half of it for the fic fest. This fic also features Miranda Priestly as a mean literature teacher!

Brenda was leaning into her locker frantically searching for a Werther’s Original she was pretty sure was still in there when she felt the air shift around her. A throat was cleared behind her and she slowly looked up to see Sharon Raydor. 

“Hi…” she said slowly, biting her lip. 

“Did you know that your skirt is in violation of the school policy regarding length?” Sharon folded her arms across her chest. 

“I don’t have any other clothes…” Brenda began, “and it’s not like I can just take it off. That would be a violation of school policy.” She chuckled a little; Sharon Raydor made her nervous. 

“The nurse’s office has clothes you can borrow.”

“You wouldn’t really write me up, would you?” Brenda studied her face. 

**

The third period bell rang and Brenda darted down the hall, finally bursting in to the social studies room. “Brenda, you’re late and… what are you wearing?” 

Brenda slammed her books down, glancing down at the leopard print leggings she’d been forced to borrow from the nurse. “ _Apparently_ a big sign that says ‘Sharon Raydor’s bitch.’”

Will shook his head, “I don’t even want to know.” 

Brenda took her seat next to Andy Flynn. Louie Provenza leaned forward and stage whispered, “you look like Andy’s mother – on a _good_ day.” 

“Shut up.” Andy reached back and smacked Lou in the forehead. 

Startled but amused, Lou fell back in his chair. 

“Come on, guys.” Will sighed. “Be serious.” 

“I want to go first today,” Julio said, “I haven’t gotten to argue in a week.” 

“Sorry, Julio, you’re going to have to put it off another day. We have to deal with some administrative problems first. With Irene gone we’re man-down. We could debate man-down at the sectionals but at the championship we need seven.”

“That’s ridiculous. Seven? Not six, not eight?”

“One team captain, and at least six team members. It’s standard at the big competitions.” 

“It’s halfway through the semester, everyone has their classes, we’ll never get another person in time.” Julio objected. 

“You have a whole pool of study hall students to choose from. One of you must know someone who has a study hall this period.” 

**

Lou set his tray down between David and Brenda. “This is all your fault for breaking up with Irene like that.” He looked at David pointedly. 

“Hey,” Brenda put out a hand, “don’t start pointing fingers, we’ve had three girls drop debate after you broke up with them.”

“Yeah but none of them was smart.” Andy objected. “Lou’s got a point. Irene was a secret weapon, she was an encyclopedia. The girls that Lou got to drop out were _blonde_.”

Brenda snorted, “I take exception to that.”

“Present company excluded. I think we can all agree that instead of brains blondes get boobs.”

Brenda narrowed her eyes and glanced down at her chest. “I think I’m still offended…” 

Fritz wrapped his arms around Brenda and pulled her backwards. “Let me take you away from all this.”

Brenda let out a surprised giggle and leaned up to nuzzle his cheek. “You startled me.”

“Oh really? That wasn’t my intention at all.” Fritz kissed her cheek. “What’re we talking about?”

“About how it’s David’s fault that we can’t compete at the championship debate.” Andy pointed and David threw a french fry at him. 

“We were not.” Brenda scowled. “It’s just that we have a problem because we’re too few for the championships. I guess it might not even matter, we still have one more sectional and who knows if we’ll even win.”

“Of course you will, you’re undefeated.”

“Streaks have to end sooner or later.” Mike agreed. 

“That’s the spirit.” Fritz said sarcastically, “why don’t you just give up because we’re all gonna die eventually, right?”

“Here, here.” Lou raised his soda can. 

Brenda rolled her eyes, “I think you’re missing the point.”

“Am I? What are we talking about?” Lou asked. 

“Forget it.” Fritz shook his head. 

“So, you haven’t said anything about Brenda’s pants.” Julio laughed. 

Fritz looked down. “Oh my god, Brenda!” 

“Shut-up. I know they’re ridiculous. Sharon Raydor is evil. I bet she went down to the nurse’s office to make sure there weren’t any normal clothes. She cornered me in the hall and told me my skirt was inappropriate.” 

“You have to wear that all day?” Fritz raised an eyebrow. 

“I could probably take them off if she wasn’t around but I have seventh period with her.” Brenda sighed.

“I have to go make my case for our fundraiser to student council sixth period. It took me ages to get Mrs. Wilcox to let me out of stats.” Fritz shook his head, “I have to get the Sharon Raydor stamp of approval.” 

“Good luck with that.” Andy scoffed. “Puppies don’t have the Sharon Raydor stamp of approval. And you’re nowhere near as cute as puppies so you’ve got that working against you.”

**

“I’m actually going to stop you right there.” Sharon held up a hand and cast a withering look at Fritz through her thin-rimmed frames. “Your bikini carwash is denied. The student handbook states that no midriffs may be shown and it also states that any fundraising for school related clubs or teams must adhere to any and all school policies.” 

“No bikinis?” Fritz blinked, “come on, who wants to watch a bunch of sweaty baseball players washing cars?”

“Pedophiles?” Sharon shrugged. 

Claire stifled a laugh. Fritz threw a pout in her direction and she pretended to shuffle through her papers. “We have five minutes, Sharon.” Claire said as an aside. 

“Alright, this meeting is adjourned. Friday is reserved for budgetary items so any business that we didn’t get to will be put on the agenda for Monday.” 

“No, hey, wait!” Fritz protested, “the game is on Monday, we have to make the money this weekend. What do you want from me?”

“The fact that you’ve never had an original thought is not my concern, I am not here to solve your problems. Though here’s a little free advice: next time try to think things through and you won’t end up wasting my time and yours with fruitless agenda items.” Sharon shoved her papers into her backpack. 

“This is an abuse of power.”

“My quoting the rulebook is an abuse of power?” Sharon raised her eyebrows. “My being smarter than you is an abuse of power? Well, geez, I might as well resign right now, I’m just too gosh darn smart for the jocks.” 

Fritz fumed. 

“If you want to go over my head, be my guest but Vice Principal Delk is just going to say the same thing.” Sharon flipped her hair back. “You and the baseball boys better start rubbing your pennies together. You’ve just wasted an entire minute of your valuable thinking time arguing with me.” 

Sharon slung her backpack over her shoulder and strolled out of the room. Most of the student council filed out with her leaving Fritz and Claire Howard alone in the room. 

“Don’t take it too hard, Fritzy.” Claire said soothingly. “Her aura was really dark today, I could have told you you didn’t have a chance.” 

“How can you be friends with her?”

“Because she’s mean to you and it makes me smile.” Claire laughed. “She’s funny. Besides I wouldn’t exactly call us friends we hang out in school but we’ve never hung out outside of school.”

“Hey, if we kill her would you be president?”

“Technically yes.” Claire grinned, “but I’d have to turn down your bikini car wash, too, Delk would never okay it and it would be pointless of me to lie to you. But hey, I have your solution.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Sharon’ll still make fun of you but you should hold a bake sale.” 

Fritz frowned. “You’re kidding.”

“It’s the only pre-approved fundraiser, you could just do it and you wouldn’t have to come back on Monday.” 

“It’s the baseball team, we can’t have a bake sale.” Fritz objected.

“I’m giving you gold here and you’re throwing it in my face. Do it, don’t do it, I don’t care if you get to your game.” Claire put her backpack on, “but on the bright side, if you do hold a bake sale Brenda will probably pay for half your trip.” 

Fritz heaved a heavy sigh. “The guys are _not_ gonna go for it.” 

Once in the hallway he saw Brenda walking the other way. “Hey Brenda,” Fritz jogged to catch up to her, “hey, got a sec?”

“On my way to AP Lit, walk and talk.”

“About the debate team,” Fritz started, “I was going to drop physics anyway, I could join the debate team so you guys don’t have to forfeit.”

“Oh Fritzy, that’s sweet,” Brenda was borderline speechless as she arrived at the door to her class. 

“So yes?”

“I’ll catch up with you after class, okay?”

“Okay,” he leaned in and kissed her. Brenda scurried into the room and took her seat as Ms. Priestly started handing back tests. 

“Miss Johnson, excellent, as usual.” She laid the test on her desk, a shining 93%. “Nice of you to show up on time today.” 

Ms. Priestly continued down the row as Brenda flipped through her test. 

“Miss Raydor, you’re slipping.” Mrs. Priestly teased as she laid a 98% in front of her. 

Sharon started flipping through the test to find her incorrect answer. “There’s been a mistake, Ms. Priestly.” 

“There isn’t a mistake, Sharon, I died for beauty but was scarce was not about sex.” Ms. Priestly said tiredly, having anticipated this fight. “It was about superficiality and the idea that earthly problems don’t matter in death.” 

“It’s about that because Dickinson scholars say it’s about that. Dickinson herself never explicitly explained this poem like she has others.” 

“Miss Raydor-”

“Dickinson’s style is multi-entendre, it can be about superficiality _and_ sex. When is sex not superficial?” Sharon demanded. 

“You’re young, Miss Raydor, still plenty of time to have meaningful sex.” Ms. Priestly smirked. Sharon blushed and the class giggled. “The fact of the matter is that the meaning of the poem is not in dispute. Anyone who has studied Dickinson for any substantial amount of time is going to tell you the same thing. You don’t have an argument. You’re going to have to live with a 98.” 

Sharon humphed and sat back in her seat as Priestly continued to hand back exams; she was met with groans and smiles but no reaction so verbal as Sharon’s. 

“Alright, we’re going to be discussing Virginia Woolf today, I hope everyone read An Unwritten Novel.” 

“Ms. Priestly,” Sharon raised her hand.

“What is it, Sharon?” Ms. Priestly asked tiredly. 

“An essay on I died for beauty but was scarce, published two years ago, the poem is about sex.”

“Is it scholarly?” Priestly sighed. 

“Perdue.” Sharon held out her phone to show the paper she’d googled. “And I supported my argument with specific examples from the poem.”

“Fine.” Priestly strode up the aisle and snatched the test away from her. “You got your two points back. Now may I please resume?”

“You’re the teacher.” Sharon smirked. 

Brenda had been listening with rapt attention as Sharon had studiously taken down Beastly Priestly with calm arguments backed up with facts. Brenda had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized she had to have Sharon Raydor on the debate team. 

Sharon was packing up her things to go when Brenda stood in front of her. Sharon raised an eyebrow and glanced at the borrowed pants. “Nice pants.” She laughed. “They are an improvement on your normal wardrobe though.” 

“You know, I’m going to ignore that because I have something I need to ask you.”

“No, I won’t okay Fritz’s carwash.”

“What? No. I don’t care about that. I wanted to invite you to join the debate team.”

“Oh you’re inviting me? How exclusive!” Sharon mocked. “Pass.” 

She put her bag over her shoulder and started to leave and Brenda moved in front of her again, “okay no. I’m not inviting, I’m _asking_. We’re one person short and I don’t want someone to just be a warm body, I want someone who will crush competition. I’m swallowing my pride to ask you to do this.”

“What do I get out of it?” Sharon narrowed her eyes. 

“Extra curriculars look great on college transcripts.”

“I have early acceptance.”

“Maybe you could get into a better school.”

“To Harvard.” 

“Oh…” Brenda bit her lip, “alright…. Then you have the satisfaction of me begging you.”

“I already have the satisfaction of you begging without having to do anything for you.” 

Brenda sighed, “how about because I _need_ this. Debate is everything to me and I need it and because maybe if you have a shred of human decency you’ll see that I’m desperate.”

Sharon smirked. “I gave away my last shred of human decency _last night_. Sorry, you just missed it.”

Brenda stood staring at Sharon’s retreating form, speechless.

“Miss Johnson,” Ms. Priestly broke into Brenda’s disbelief. “I can’t get you to show up on time and now I can’t get you to leave. Don’t you have an eighth period to get to?”

Slightly embarrassed and only mildly discouraged, Brenda joined the herd in the hallway. Andy fell into step with her, spinning his keys. “You going to study hall today or do you want a ride home?”

“I guess I’m going to stay. I need to figure out our seventh member problem.”

“I thought Fritz said he’d do it.”

“Yeah…” Brenda bit her lip. 

“Tread lightly.” Andy warned. 

Brenda scoffed. Treading lightly had never been her strong suit. As she and Andy parted company in the hall she caught a glimpse of Claire and called out to her as she weaved through the crowd. 

“Hey Brenda.”

“Hey, do you have Sharon Raydor’s cell number?” 

“Depends…” Claire watched her suspiciously for a moment. “Why do you want it?”

“For a Lit thing. I’m not going to see her again today and you know she’d die if she missed an assignment.” Brenda lied easily. 

Claire still looked unconvinced but nodded. “I’ll text it to you.”

**

Sharon’s phone buzzed. She glanced up to ensure Mr. Grissom wouldn’t see her and accepted the text. 

_if you join debate ill do ANYTHING_

Sharon felt a mixture of emotions as she set her phone back down. First, she felt confused as to how the blonde had gotten her cell phone number, second, she was annoyed at her stubborn bravado and, thirdly, she felt intrigued by Brenda’s promise. 

_Anything_ , hm? Sharon could work with that. Lastly she felt a little devious as she couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. 

“Are you still with us, Ms. Raydor?” Mr. Grissom asked with some irritation. “Would you like to come up here and explain the chemical composition of plastic?” 

Piece of cake.


	2. Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

“You actually baked this?” Brenda asked with a mouthful of cake and decadent frosting. 

Fritz shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was desperate. Only three of the other guys chipped in at all. I have half a mind not to let them go to the game except I’d only be hurting myself.”

“This is so good.” Brenda moaned as she took another huge bite. 

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, yeah. You said… something about hurting yourself?”

Fritz sighed. 

“I’ll give you…” she looked in her wallet at the remaining cash and finding only one bill left, “a twenty right now if you’ll put the rest of the cake aside for me. That’s fair right? Two dollars a slice and you’re not going to get nine more slices out of it, right?” 

Fritz nodded, “I’ll put it back under the cake thing my mom lent me.” He said with some defeat in his voice. 

“Is something wrong?”

He shook his head, “it’s my own fault for trying to talk to you when you have sugar in your hands.”

Brenda patted his chest with her unoccupied hand and smiled, “you know what I like about you, Fritzy? You’re a quick study.” 

Claire walked up to the table. “Dollar for a bag of cookies?”

“They’re a dollar fifty, Claire.” Fritz pointed at the sign. 

“Keep in mind, dear brother, that I baked those cookies for you last night _and_ I realigned your chakras. I think you can give me a family discount.” 

“Plus I gave you extra money. Just take her fifty cents out of mine.” Brenda waved it off, taking another bite of cake.

“Fine.” Fritz grumbled and handed over a bag of cookies to Claire. “Heard everything she said…”

Brenda chose to ignore the jab in favor of devouring the cake. If the boy could make cake like this she’d probably have to marry him. 

“I see you wised up.” Sharon said as she stepped up to the group at the bake sale table. She nodded with slight approval, “the only pre-approved fundraiser.” She glanced at Claire and then back at Fritz, “still not an original idea but you’re getting there homo habilis.” 

“I told you she’d make fun of you.” Claire giggled. 

“You don’t need to be psychic to know that.” Fritz rolled his eyes but decided to try and shmooze Sharon a little. “So can I interest you in anything? You look like a chocolate dipped strawberry kind of person to me.” 

“Pass.” Sharon shook her head, “I don’t eat sweets.” 

Brenda felt her jaw drop a little bit. The girl, clearly, was the personification of evil. 

“Actually,” Sharon started with a smirk. “I just stopped by to talk to Brenda for a second.” 

Brenda was slightly unnerved by the barely-there-smirk that twitched at the corners of Sharon’s lips. “Yes?”

“I’ll do it.” 

“You’ll…” Brenda’s eyes lit up. “You’ll do it? Really?”

Sharon nodded, “really.” 

“Thank you, thank you _so much_.” Brenda was having the best morning she’d had in a long time. First cake and now the realization of her debate-related dreams was starting to fall into place. “Third period, room 217.” 

“Claire?” Sharon nodded toward the hallway. 

“Coming.” Claire tucked the bag of cookies into her pocket and started walking with her. “You made Brenda very happy. She glowed bright pink when you told her you’d do it.” 

“Can you imagine her any other color?” Sharon raised a questioning eyebrow. 

Claire laughed, “she’s usually pink she was just _really_ pink a moment ago. Your aura, on the other hand, is still an evil black. What are you up to?” 

“Can’t a girl just do a nice thing once in a while?” Sharon grinned devilishly. 

“You pursued Raydor?” Fritz demanded, indignance washing over his face. “You asked her to join the debate team… after I said I’d do it.” 

“I… you… you shouldn’t drop Physics. It’s important. Sharon… she’s not all bad.”

“ _Yes_ , she is.” Fritz insisted. “She is _all bad_. She is a despicable human being.”

“Claire likes her.” Brenda shrugged.

“ _Claire_ is bat ass crazy.” 

They were silent for a few long minutes. “Okay, well, I should get going… and I actually think I’ll take the cake with me.”

He tightened the lid and handed it over. 

During second period Brenda kept her eyes glued to the clock. She wouldn’t believe it was true until she actually saw Sharon in the debate room with her own eyes. It could still be some cruel ploy but Brenda desperately wanted to believe. 

The bell rang and she was off like a shot. Will Pope was just sitting down at his desk when Brenda wooshed in. Will blinked, unable to believe his eyes, “are you early for today’s class or just _really_ late for yesterday’s?”

Brenda snorted and sat down at her desk with her cake and stared at the door. One by one, the rest of the debate team filed in and sat down. It was always loud during the ten minutes before the class bell – but today it was grating on Brenda’s nerves. 

The bell rang and Will stood to close the door. “Alright, since everyone’s here at the bell for the first time… ever,” Will glanced at Brenda, “we can get started.” 

Brenda’s heart sank. She felt as bad as if she’d been stood up for a date or if her parents had forgotten her birthday or if she opened a Hershey’s kiss only to find white chocolate. 

“I’ve compiled a list of debate topics,” he started passing out the sheet of paper with the topics. “I reserved the computer lab for us so you can start researching.” 

There was a knock on the door. Will turned to look at it with surprise. He went over to the door and opened it. “Miss Raydor… I think you have the wrong room.” 

Brenda perked up. 

Sharon held up a note from the guidance counselor. “I have a transfer slip.”

He accepted the proffered paper and read it, then nodded. “Alright. I guess you don’t have the wrong room. Come in, have a seat.” 

Sharon sashayed across the linoleum floor, all eyes on her as she chose a seat two rows behind Brenda. She crossed her legs as she set her stuff in front of her and her skirt rode up her thighs. 

Lou made little attempt to mask his ogling. He leaned forward between Andy and Brenda and stage whispered, “she’d be hot if she wasn’t such a see you next Tuesday.” 

“ _Shut-up_.” Brenda snapped, “she’s here as a favor to me.” 

“You _asked_ her to join debate?” Lou was incredulous. 

“Guys, please,” Will said tiredly, “keep the side conversations for outside of class. Does anyone have preference for which topic they’d like?”

Sharon raised her hand. “Can we pick our own topics?”

“You can make suggestions and I can include them in future lists. Do you have a preference from the list?” 

Sharon looked back down at the list. “I’ll take arguing for term limits for congress.” 

“You don’t get to choose for or against. You pick a topic, you get a partner and on the day of your debate you get randomly assigned for or against.” Will turned back to the class. “Anyone else want term limits for congress?” 

The room was silent and Will glanced around, silently weighing each option. “Julio, why don’t you partner with Sharon.” 

“Okay.” Julio said with a sigh. 

**

Sharon was still typing away on her laptop when the bell rang. Brenda stood up but didn’t move as the rest of the team filed out. Flynn followed her line of vision to Sharon and he shook his head at her, already knowing that the whole thing was headed for disaster.

Brenda gripped the cake box in her hands and walked up to Sharon. Before she had a chance to speak Sharon looked up and said, “so, I was just thinking about your promise to ‘do anything’ if I joined debate.”

“Yeah, you know, no rush on that…” 

“Oh, I’ve already figured out my compensation.” 

“You have?” Brenda bit her lip; Sharon nodded slowly. “What do you… want?”

Sharon reached out and tapped the lid of the cake box. 

“You want some cake?” 

“I want the whole cake.” Sharon grinned wickedly. 

“The whole…” Brenda stuttered, “I… are you sure there’s nothing else you want? I could… I don’t know, carry your books for you for a week or wear a t-shirt that says ‘Sharon Raydor is perfect’ or… really anything else…” 

“I’m sorry, I was under the impression you were a woman of your word.” Sharon turned back to her computer, “it’s not too late to go back to my study hall.” 

“ _Fine_.” Brenda pushed the cake closer to Sharon and held her hands up, “I said anything and I meant anything… as long as you stay on the team.” 

“I will.” Sharon moved the cake box to her other side so she was between Brenda and the cake. “When I make a promise, Brenda Leigh, I keep it.” 

Brenda blushed. Sharon had an uncanny way of making Brenda feel all funny inside. 

“Okay good. I’ll see you in Lit then.” 

“I’m leaving early today.” Sharon deadpanned, eyes on her computer again. 

“Oh… okay… so…” Brenda shifted on her feet, waiting for Sharon to look up again. Finally, getting no eye contact she concluded their awkward interaction with a nod, “Monday then.” 

“Mhm.” 

Brenda started to walk away, glancing back at Sharon, still holding out a slim hope of catching her eye. Brenda bumped into an entering student who gave her a dirty look and Brenda threw him an apologetic look before looking once more to Sharon. 

When Brenda was gone Sharon looked up to where the blonde had been and couldn’t help but smile a little. Toying with Brenda was definitely her idea of fun. 

**

“Hey Brenda,” Fritz said, catching her in the hallway. 

“Hey Fritzy,” Brenda smiled, “I’m getting a ride home from Andy, can we catch up tomorrow?” 

“The game’s tomorrow.” 

“Oh, I kind of assumed you didn’t make enough money…” Brenda shrugged, “all things considered…” 

“Coach pitched in the rest since we tried so hard to raise the money.” Fritz sighed, “could you stay here for eighth period and I’ll drive you home?” 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll be in the library.” 

Fritz kissed her cheek, “thanks.” 

She pulled out her phone and started to text Andy that he didn’t have to drive her home when she ran straight into Ms. Priestly. Brenda sighed and prepared for the inevitable verbal assault. 

“Do stop trying to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time – multi-tasking is clearly not your strong suit, Ms. Johnson.”

“Sorry, Ms. Priestly.” Brenda murmured with embarrassment. 

Brenda ducked into the library and dropped her backpack onto the table and slunk down into a chair to wait for Fritz. 

“Hey, there you are.” Andy walked up to her, “I thought you were going to meet me at your locker.”

“Oh, yeah… Fritz asked me to stay. He said he’d drive me home.” She shrugged.

“Or I could drive you home now and he could just drive to your house since he was going to anyway.” 

Brenda grinned and gathered up her backpack, “that is an excellent point.” 

**

“Well, I’m annoyed but not at all surprised.” Fritz snapped as soon as Brenda picked up the phone. “You’re home, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, Andy brought me home.” Brenda bit her lip, “so, do you want to come over and talk?”

“I think I’m going to see if Russell can go to the batting cages with me.”

“I’m sorry, Fritz…” 

He sighed inwardly; he knew that she _was_ sorry but he also knew that she’d make the same decision again. He loved her whether it was sensible or not.

“It’s okay. You can make it up to me on Monday, I’ll take you out somewhere.”

“Where?” 

“How about I surprise you?”

Brenda grinned, “Fritzi, you know I don’t like surprises…” 

“Yeah, well,” he started playfully, “that’s part of making it up to me, letting me call the shots for once.” 

“Alright fine.” Brenda acquiesced in kind. 

**

First thing on Monday morning Sharon walked over to where Fritz and Brenda stood talking and held out the cake container wordlessly. 

Fritz accepted it slowly. It was light and obviously empty. 

“Did you enjoy the cake?” Brenda raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh, I didn’t eat it.” Sharon shook her head and then grinned at Brenda, “see you in third period.”

Brenda blinked, mouth agape at Sharon’s retreating form. She looked over at the empty container in Fritz’s hand and then back at Sharon. “She…”

“Tell me again why you want to have to put up with her on a daily basis.” 

Brenda scowled and looked up at Fritz. “She… She’s… well…” 

“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about her too.” He shoved the container into his locker. 

“No, it’s just that she’s…” Brenda felt annoyed at her own lack of ability to explain how she felt about Sharon. “I feel a pull towards her… but every time I get anywhere near her all I want to do is run away from her… but I can’t move… and she’s trying to push me away… but she can’t make me move either…” 

“Fall Out Boy lyrics?” Fritz teased her as he slammed his locker shut.

The metallic bang roused Brenda from her thought process, looking over to Fritz as the bell rang. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, “I’ll see you at lunch, Bren.”


	3. Wicked Stepmothers And Poison Apples

Will Pope closed the classroom door as soon as all the students had arrived. He consulted his roster thoughtfully before deciding which pair to call on first. 

"Alright, Sharon, let’s see what you’ve got. You're against term limits. Julio, you're for." Will took his seat. "Julio, opening statement." 

"Serving as a congressman or a senator is an honor and not a career. Repeat congresspeople and senators keep congress stale, the only way to continue to evolve and change as a nation is to keep new ideas flowing through the legislative branch the same way we keep the executive branch changing with long established term limits." 

"Good opening, Julio. Sharon?" Will made a few notes and looked up at Sharon.

"Term limits for congress is a violation of democratic rights." Sharon started, turning to look at Julio, challenging him directly. "Passing legislation that limits who the public is ‘allowed’ to vote for is a slippery slope. Right now we're talking about term limits but where does it end? What other rights do you want taken away from the public? You might as well re-instate the full power of the electoral college and make the public votes for president nul." 

"What?" Julio demanded. 

"The American people vote on the person they believe will represent their interests. Who are you to say 'no, you can't vote for Senator So-and-so whose voting so consistently aligned with your political beliefs because his ideas are stale now.' That's not an America I want to live in." 

Will shook his head in stunned disbelief. "Uh... Julio, rebuttal?"

"Are you crazy, Sarah PAIN-in-the-ass?" Julio frowned. "I'm not proposing a dictatorship, I'm proposing a government that actually works for its people."

"Oh, that's rich, can't back up your arguments so you resort to weak insults."

"The problem is that the whole system is supposed to be a checks and balances but nothing is checked and the only balance that exists is that each branch is largely self-governed." 

"America thrives on the idea of the American Dream which says that someone who works hard can achieve great things and then the have-nots who couldn't make their dreams work want to limit the success of the people who earned their position."

"Who earned their position? Name me one politician who came from humble beginnings." 

"George Bush came from privilege but he squandered it in his youth and made an admirable turnaround." 

"George Bush? You're citing George Bush as a maverick of the American Dream?" Julio demanded. "In Boston the Kennedys are the closest thing to a royal family, death doesn't even keep their tired old ideas out of government and policy. Name me one minority in congress or the senate."

"So this is a race thing?" Sharon scoffed. "Your actual argument is to kick out all the white guys. Who are you to decide whose ideas are tired and whose are cutting edge? How do you propose to decide this? Do you really think term limits would change anything? The candidates would all come from the same pool that they come from now: trust fund brats and ivy league good old boys. What is it you really want in congress? You can say it, you want ethnic diversity." 

Julio was silent.

Sharon continued, "the answer to ethnic diversity in congress is not term limits, it's changing the power structure of the country. It's making education accessible and affordable, it's teaching kids of all genders and races that everything is possible and believing it, it's about dispelling prejudices. Term limits in congress would be an ineffective solution to a larger problem. Next time you want to come in here and push your hippy agenda put your money where your mouth is and come prepared with facts." 

"Forget this." Julio muttered. "I give up. No term limits. You win. Happy?" Julio groaned in frustration and took his seat. 

"Um... okay..." Will narrowed his eyes in confusion. "That was... unorthodox..."

"Thank you." 

"Don't thank me yet." Will shook his head. "That was blatantly argumentative and pedantic. You were intentionally contentious and your entire argument was outside of the structure. You lapsed into a combative right-wing persona that was obstinate and rude. You would be disqualified from a formal debate immediately after your opening." 

Sharon's jaw dropped at Pope's words. 

"That may be how you win arguments in your personal life but if you're going to debate for this team you have to follow the format and be a courteous member or you will be kicked out." Pope concluded his speech. 

Sharon stood stock, unable to believe her ears. 

"You may take your seat, Miss Raydor." 

Sharon sank into the chair and sat silently for the rest of the class, Pope's words echoing through her head. Could it be true? She had found the one thing at which she wasn't perfect? Surely, not; surely, debate would not get the better of her. 

At the end of class everyone cleared out as soon as the bell rang. Sharon was moving slowly, still shaken by the censure she'd received. Brenda walked up to her. "Those things you said..." 

"Relax. I was just playing a part." Sharon rolled her eyes. 

"No, it wasn't that. It's just... you were so masterful. You had an answer for everything. That's perfect. You just have to harness your passion into the debate structure." 

Sharon nodded curtly. "Yes." Sharon shoved her notebook into her bag. "Let's study later. You can help me with the rules of debate." 

"Oh. Okay." Brenda said, surprised by Sharon's request and her own reaction. "Wonderful." 

"I'll call you after eighth." Sharon breezed by her. 

Brenda turned. Her heart pounded, it would be the first day that she'd wish a school day was longer. Studying with Sharon Raydor, Brenda couldn't think of a worse level of hell, Dante be damned. 

**

Sitting down at the lunch table between Andy and Lou, Brenda received a few icy looks. "What?"

"What do you think?" Julio muttered. 

"She was good."

"She was horrible. She's a miserable human being!" Julio snapped. 

"She accomplished her goal. She made her point and got you to drop yours. You're just mad that she beat you."

"She didn't follow the rules!" 

"She's smart."

"And we're not? God. I can't believe you asked her to join debate. It's like you don't believe we could do it on our own." 

David shrugged, "I have to go with Julio on this one. It feels like you're choosing her over us."

"That's crazy!" Brenda objected. 

"You defended her. You're supposed to be on our side." 

"Yeah." Andy grumbled. "Topic: Sharon Raydor. For or against?"

"For but for the sake of the team!" Brenda insisted. "She's the complement to us, not the replacement brain for you all. You don't have to like her." 

"A team is supposed to be a family." Lou protested in an uncharacteristic emotional outburst. "And you just intentionally brought in the wicked stepmother." 

"And you're going to have to be the one who eats the poison apple." Mike added. 

Brenda furrowed her brow. "I think y'all need to work on your metaphors." 

"Sure, Raydor. Thanks for pointing out our flaws." Julio grumbled. 

"That's a good one." Andy grinned. "Brenda stop being a _Raydor_." 

"Stop that." Brenda frowned. "Stop using her name in the pejorative. She'll hear you. If team is supposed to be family and all that why don't y'all start by accepting her into the family."

"Because she isn't family!" Lou balked. "She's just some bitch that you asked to join because you're obsessed with winning and don't care if it hurts the rest of us." 

"What are we talking about?" Fritz asked as he wedged himself between Brenda and Lou. 

"Nothing." Several members of the lunch table mumbled under their breath. 

"Sounds very interesting." Fritz scoffed. "How was she-who-shall-not-be-named?" 

"Ask kiss-ass." Julio said accusingly.

"She was good at debate." 

"She was a complete and total douchebag. I'm surprised she didn't start spewing crap about death panels and start quoting the declaration of independence to argue for slavery!" 

"This is obviously a bad time." Fritz stood back up. "I'll leave you to it." 

"Fritz, wait." Brenda stood up and followed him out of the lunch room. 

"I was thinking that I'd take you to get ice cream at Scoop's and then we could drive out to Santa Monica to go to the beach." 

"Yeah, about tonight. I know we had a date but I have to cancel." 

"Are you kidding?" 

"I have to study."

"For what?"

"For debate..."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"...with Sharon Raydor." Brenda offered a half smile. "It's just... if I don't study with her tonight maybe she won't try to learn the debate structure later. She's just sort of volatile." 

"Yeah, she's nitroglycerin." 

"And you thought you'd never use the information you learned in Chemistry class." Brenda teased. 

"I'm not laughing." Fritz frowned. "Fine. Have your study date with Sharon Raydor. I'll be around when you decide what's more important to you." 

"That's not fair. You can't compare my love for you with my love for debate. It's different, debate is about my future." 

"And I'm not?"

"I can't plan my life right now! I'm only a junior!" 

"You've planned out your entire career!" Fritz cried. "You want to work for the CIA and you want to head your own squad. You want to go to Georgetown. You've planned everything in your career and you can't give any thought to the future of our relationship?"

"Maybe I have thought about our future and just haven't brought it up because you wouldn't like my thoughts." 

"I'm out of here." 

"No wait." Brenda jogged to catch up with him. "I'm sorry, Fritzy, I'm just stressed because everyone on the debate team is giving me a hard time and I'm sorry, of course we have a future. I love you, how could we not have a future?" 

Fritz sighed and pulled Brenda into a hug. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you too. Have fun studying tonight, we can do ice cream and the beach tomorrow."


	4. Fresh Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter the rating goes up to M

Andy had dropped Brenda off at her house and she was reading a book on the porch in the sunshine when her phone beeped. 

It was Sharon. _your address?_

Brenda typed it in and pressed send. Her heart skipped a beat when it beeped again and she decided not to over-analyze her reaction. _see you in ten_.

Brenda ran inside to check her hair and smooth her clothing. She wanted to make sure she looked as good as she possibly could. “Fritz coming over?” Clay asked as he watched Brenda fluffing up her hair. 

“No. I have a study date.” 

“So why are you primping?” He asked with confusion. 

“I’m _fixing my hair_ because this girl is so nit-picky and I don’t want to give her any freebies.” Brenda looked over at her father who was still not convinced. “She’s a genuine _LA_ girl, daddy!”

“Okay, princess.” He acquiesced, “but you look beautiful already.” 

Brenda rolled her eyes, “I’m beautiful by _Georgia_ standards.” There was a knock on the front door and Brenda jumped. “She’s here!” She whispered. 

Clay started toward the door. 

“No, no, I’ve got it!” Brenda rushed past him and slowed when she got to the door, fluffed her hair once more and opened the door. “Oh Sharon. Hi.” She said, trying to play it cool. 

“Are you ready to go?” Sharon asked nonchalantly, hands buried in her pockets. 

“Where are we going?” 

“I like to study at the park.” 

“We have a nice sun room that you girls are welcome to study in and my wife just made cookies.”

“Thank you, Mr. Johnson, I wouldn’t dream of imposing.” Sharon smiled graciously. 

“Daddy, Sharon and I are going to go to the park and study.” Brenda said turning to him and giving him a _stop embarrassing me!_ glare. 

“What kind of car do you drive, Sharon? Is it safe?” 

“Kill me now.” Brenda mumbled to herself, covering her eyes and wishing she was dead. 

“I drive a 2010 Ford Mustang convertible, I just got an oil change last month and I’ve never had any trouble with her.” 

Clay and Brenda both leaned to peer out the window at the car that Sharon had just described. There it was, a cherry red Ford Mustang, soaking up the sun in the driveway. Brenda wanted to go with her more than ever. 

“I also have a spotless driving record, sir.” 

Clay nodded, feeling a little stunned and like he was out of protests. “Have a good time then. Uh, Brenda Leigh, will you be back for dinner?” 

“Um, don’t count on me, I’ll figure dinner out.” 

Clay stood in the doorway as Brenda and Sharon descended the steps toward the car. Sitting behind the steering wheel, Sharon pulled her hair up into a pony tail. “You might want to put your hair up.” She suggested and Brenda quickly took her advice. 

“This is a great car.” Brenda said after a long stretch of silence. 

“Thanks.” 

“Is it your parents’?” 

Sharon stole a glance at Brenda. “It’s mine. My father gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. I don’t really see him during the year so he got me a car so my mom didn’t have to.” 

“Why don’t you see him?”

“He lives in Boston.”

“Is that why you’re going to Harvard?” 

“Partly.” 

“So your parents are divorced?” Brenda asked and then mentally kicked herself. “I’m sorry…”

“My parents got divorced when I was five. I have no lingering resentment.” Sharon admitted, “I don’t have any memories of them together at all but they’re very amicable and I love my step-father.” 

“So where’s this park?” 

“It’s just a short drive away.” 

Sharon drove silently as Brenda shifted in her seat, trying desperately to be nonchalant. City roads turned into more rural roads and Sharon turned into a state park. She continued along a service road through the woods and stopped when she came to a clearing. 

“Oh my god, Sharon.” Brenda breathed, “this place is beautiful.” Brenda yanked at the door to escape the confines. 

“Hey, hey, careful.” Sharon chastised as Brenda launched herself into the blissful surroundings of the clearing. 

“How did you find this place?”

“It’s a state park.” 

“Yeah, but the service road?” 

Sharon smirked, “well, never let it be said that being the daughter of the secretary of education of California doesn’t have _some_ advantages.” 

Brenda pulled off her shoes and let her toes slide over the lush, green grass. “Sometimes Fritz takes me to the beach or the park… but they’re always crowded, there are always so many people…” 

“I’m not a big fan of crowds.” Sharon said as she grabbed her backpack from the trunk. 

“Yeah, me neither.” 

“So are we going to study or not?” Sharon questioned, laying out a blanket and lowering herself to sit on it. 

“We are, we are.” Brenda insisted, grabbing her own backpack and sitting down on the blanket, “I brought the debate manual. We can run through it once with the term limits research you already did, if you’d like.” 

“Okay, can I see the manual.”

Brenda handed it over to her, “I made annotations in the margins for you for important stuff.”

Sharon flipped through the pages, “you did all this for me?”

“Yeah.” Brenda pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. 

“You really want to win this thing, huh?”

Brenda shrugged, “I wouldn’t have done it for just anybody…” She looked down at the pencil in her hand. 

Sharon smiled a little. “I was against, so do you want to start?” 

**

“You did great.” Brenda announced, laying back on the blanket. “You’ve almost got me convinced that term limits are bad.”

“ _Almost_?” Sharon asked incredulously. “Then I failed! Come on, let’s try again, we’ll do another topic… how about tax cuts?”

“I don’t know anything about tax cuts.” Brenda murmured, closing her eyes. 

“You don’t know _anything_ about tax cuts?” Sharon rolled her eyes, “hey, come on.” 

“Let’s take a break. It’s so nice out here. The air is so clean.” 

Sharon set her books aside. She sighed audibly but Brenda pretended not to notice. She laid down on the blanket; she shifted until she was on her side and studying the blonde’s soft features. 

Brenda turned her head and opened her eyes and found her face mere inches from Sharon’s. She let out a shaky breath. Sharon’s hand came up and brushed Brenda’s cheekbone. Brenda’s heart started to pound as she leaned in and captured Sharon’s lips. 

Sharon mmmed against the soft lips, pulling herself closer to the blonde. Brenda turned over on her side, wrapping her arms around Sharon. Brenda opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, allowing Sharon better access. 

Sharon kissed like she knew what she was doing. Brenda shouldn’t be surprised; Sharon was perfect at everything else. Brenda held her tightly, not wanting to let her go, wanting to get closer. 

Sharon’s fingers plunged into Brenda’s loose curls, her nails scraping over her scalp. Brenda moaned, rolling her hips against Sharon’s. Brenda’s hipbones smacked into Sharon’s, her feminine curves so foreign and so familiar. 

Brenda moved to straddle Sharon’s hips. Their lips broke apart and they panted as they stared at each other. Brenda dropped her lips to Sharon’s neck, Sharon moaned and ran her hands up Brenda’s sides. 

Brenda was emboldened by Sharon’s moans and the hands that moved over her as she pushed her hands up the other woman’s shirt and palmed the bra-clad breasts. She could feel the pounding of Sharon’s heart, imagining it in time with her own. 

Sharon sat up, holding her close to her and flipping them so that she was covering Brenda’s torso with her own. She pushed her thigh between Brenda’s legs; the heat between them was intoxicating. Brenda’s knee came up, giving Sharon better access as she pressed her muscular thigh against Brenda’s center. 

Sharon’s fingers quickly undid Brenda’s blouse buttons and reached underneath her to unclasp her bra. Brenda’s breasts fell into view and Sharon latched onto one of her nipples with her warm mouth while she rolled the other one between her fingers. 

Brenda moaned and arched into Sharon’s mouth encouragingly. Brenda had never felt so turned on in her life. Never when Fritz kissed her did she feel the urgency that she felt to strip Sharon down and memorize every inch of her. 

Sharon began trailing kisses down Brenda’s abdomen and when she reached the waistband of her skirt, her hands started to ease the hem up. Brenda ‘s hands covered Sharon’s, “I’m not sure…” she whispered. 

“Trust me.” 

Brenda looked down into Sharon’s eyes and, without hesitation, said, “yes.” Somehow it had happened; somewhere between insults and one-up-manship she actually liked her and _trusted_ her. Brenda let go of her hands and Sharon’s face disappeared from sight. 

“Oh god!” Brenda gasped as Sharon’s tongue made its first contact with her swollen sex. She grabbed fistfuls of the blanket, arching her back, trying to force herself not to scream with pleasure. 

Sharon’s hands massaged Brenda’s hips as she mmmmed against her skin. It was enough to drive Brenda completely insane; she squeezed her eyes shut as her lips parted. “Ohh Sharon…” She murmured, “Sharon… _god_ …” 

When Brenda forced herself to open her eyes, she saw Sharon’s head bobbing between her legs and her body refused to hold off any longer. Her whole body pulsed with pleasure, shooting out in bursts of light from her center. She bit back a cry as she clutched desperately at the blanket before collapsing back and panting. 

Sharon smiled and sat up. Her lips glistening with the evidence of Brenda’s orgasm. Brenda looked up at her to see her wiping her mouth on the corner of the blanket. The brunette moved up Brenda’s body again, pressing against her and leaning in to kiss her again. This time the kiss was slow and languid; it was deep and unhurried. 

Brenda could taste herself on Sharon’s lips. This revelation sent a new wave of arousal coursing through her body. Brenda wanted to be closer to the girl, to not know where she ended and Sharon began. She wanted all of those clichés that she saw in all her favorite movies. So far the experience was granting her wish tenfold. 

Brenda’s heart fluttered, clutching at Sharon. She whispered against Sharon’s lips “I want to…” Brenda nodded toward Sharon’s center. 

Sharon grinned, “no one’s stopping you.” She nibbled the shell of Brenda’s ear and Brenda sighed with contentment. 

“But I… don’t know…” Brenda looked up at Sharon earnestly. “I don’t want to do it wrong.” 

Sharon ran her hand down Brenda’s arm, leaving goose bumps in her wake. She took Brenda’s hand and placed it at the waistband of her jeans. “Just… do what _you’d_ like.” 

Brenda unsnapped the button on Sharon’s jeans and Sharon pulled her in for a kiss. Brenda pushed down the zipper and slipped her hand inside. 

Sharon moaned into the kiss, lifting her hips to Brenda’s touch as Brenda’s fingers dipped into her wetness. Sharon brought her hand up, sliding up Brenda’s neck, holding onto her. Sharon turned her head and Brenda’s lips latched onto Sharon’s collarbone. 

Sharon started murmuring and groaning as Brenda pushed her fingers ever deeper inside her. “Oh, Brenda… fuck…” she arched her back; her breath quickened, “oh god… oh god…” 

Sharon rolled her hips; Brenda’s thrusts got bolder and more confident. Sharon buried her face in Brenda’s shoulder, clutching her desperately, so hard that her teeth dug into the soft skin. Her orgasm washed over her, bucking erratically against Brenda’s hand. 

Finally, Sharon sighed and slipped her eyes shut, releasing her grip on the blonde. 

“Was that okay?” Brenda asked innocently. 

Sharon grabbed her and pulled her down for a bruising kiss.


	5. Inevitable Fallout

Brenda slammed her locker shut. 

“Hey Brenda.” Fritz smiled, approaching. 

Brenda jumped a little, “oh, hi Fritzy.” Brenda smiled embarrassedly, her cheeks flushed as she remembered the night before. 

“I see you survived your study date with the beauty-slash-the-beast.” There was a pause, “I tried calling last night… you must have gotten in late.” 

Brenda had gotten in at quarter past 11 and if Clay had had any bigger of a cow he could have won first prize at the county fair. Brenda had seen that Fritz had called and she had ignored him. Face-to-face with him now she felt the guilt washing over her.

“I… yeah, I got in pretty late.” 

“Last night, since we didn’t go out, me and the guys had a scrimmage and we’re in really good shape, I feel good about this season – ” 

Listening to Fritz talk – the excited tone, not so much the words – she felt like a cheat and a coward. 

“We’re going to play again tonight but if you want to come and hang out I’d love to take you out afterwards. Maybe to – ”

“I can’t see you anymore.” Brenda blurted. She couldn’t bear to hear what sweet, romantic date he’d had planned. 

His mouth fell open in astonishment. He stared at her, blinking, for several painfully silent moments before sputtering. “Excuse me?”

“It’s… it’s not you. It’s me. It really is. I’ve been a terrible girlfriend to you and I know myself well enough to know that won’t change.”

“I can’t believe… is there someone else?”

“Yes.” She admitted. “I can’t be with you if I know I can’t give myself wholly to you emotionally. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“But you’re going to be with this other guy? Are you giving yourself to _him_ wholly?”

“Now Fritzy, don’t go jumping to conclusions…”

“Did you ever love me?”

“Yeah… I thought I did. Very much.” 

“But now you’re _more_ in love?” 

Brenda bit her lip. That was the million dollar question. Brenda frowned and shrugged. “I think so… I don’t know what I feel which is exactly why I have to break up with you.”

“You _don’t_ have to. _Please don’t_.” 

“I’ve already been unfair to you. You should _want_ me to do this.”

“Don’t tell me what I should want.” Fritz snapped.

“Please don’t make this any harder…”

Fritz scowled and stalked off. She’d much rather he be mad than sad. She would let him walk away now and they could talk about it in a few days. 

During first period she texted Sharon several times and received no response. During second period she got her phone taken away from her – when it was returned at the end of class, she still had no response.

She’d never gotten to the debate room all the way from Russian class so fast in her life. She arrived before Pope did and he did a shocked double taken when he saw her. 

Everyone filed in except Sharon. 

“Alright, let’s start off with Andy and Lou.” Pope said, closing the door. 

“Hold on.” Brenda furrowed her brow. “Where’s Sharon?”

“Absent.” Pope deadpanned. “Should we take a break from class until she returns, Ms. Johnson?”

Brenda shook her head and looked over and realized that everyone had seated themselves as far away from her as possible. She frowned; she’d been so absorbed in waiting for Sharon she hadn’t noticed until then. She looked at Julio and he looked away. 

She frowned and sighed softly.

**

Sharon was sitting on her bed amidst her school books, working on the packet of missed classwork. She saw Bill in the doorway before she heard him knock. Pulling the earbuds out of her ears she looked at him expectantly. 

“Phone for you, kiddo.” She looked at her cell phone on the bed in front of her, reminding her that she had received eleven texts from Brenda and three missed calls that she hadn’t dealt with yet. “Not that one, the landline.” He held the portable phone out to her. 

“Oh… okay. Didn’t even know the landline was still hooked up…” She held her hand out for it. “Thanks.” 

Sharon waited until Bill left and closed the door behind him. “Hello?”

“Hi Sharon, it’s me.” Brenda bit her lip. “Did you get my texts?”

“No, not yet.” 

“Are you sick?”

“Nope.”

“Oh… you weren’t in school today and… I don’t know, I missed you.”

“Okay, well, was there anything specific you needed? I just got home and I have a lot of work to do.”

“Well…” Brenda got up and locked her door and settled at her desk, which was the furthest she could get from the door. “We slept together.” She whispered. 

“And?”

“And… I liked it…” Brenda hadn’t exactly scripted the conversation to the degree she would have liked and, consequently, sputtered nervously. “Shouldn’t we talk about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, like, when can we do it again? Would you like to come over to my house for dinner some time?”

“Calm down. I just fucked you, I didn’t propose marriage.” 

“So… what? It didn’t mean anything to you? You don’t have any feelings for me?”

“What do you mean? Like _love_?” 

“Oh my god…” Brenda was overcome by a barrage of emotions but was eventually gripped by anger. “You just slept with me because you _felt_ like it, not because you _like_ me.” 

“Hold on a second!” Sharon insisted. 

“No wonder you ignored my calls all day!” 

“I wasn’t _ignoring_ you.” Sharon snapped. “I was _busy_ all day, I just got in. Stop overreacting; you’re being ridiculous.” 

“Tell me if there’s a section in your precious rule book: what is an appropriate reaction when you give your virginity to a conceited, manipulative harpy?”

Choosing to gloss over the fact that Brenda just used the word _harpy_ in the year 2014 – which she would normally be all over – her attention zeroed in on the preceding words. 

“I did _not_ take your virginity! You’ve been with Fritz Howard for almost two years!” 

“I was waiting until it felt right!” Brenda snapped, surrendering to sadness, “and for some stupid reason _you_ felt right. _Last night_ felt right and you’re just going to carve another notch in your headboard.” 

“Brenda, _stop for a second._ ” Sharon growled. 

“Don’t bother reading the text messages, I don’t mean them anymore.” Then the line went dead. Sharon dropped the phone on the bed and let out an aggrieved sigh, “ughhh what a mess.” 

Brenda stalked out of her bedroom and stomped through the kitchen. “Hey, Cherry Blossom, what’s gotten into you?” Clay asked, looking up over his newspaper. 

“People _suck_. Everything _sucks_. I’m going for a bike ride.” 

“Language, Brenda Leigh!” Willie Rae frowned. 

Brenda slammed the screen door shut behind her. Bless Willie Rae’s naïve heart if she thought that was the worst that Brenda was going to say today.


	6. "Socialized Healthcare"

Brenda slammed her locker shut. She looked over just in time to see Lou and Andy turning away from her. Brenda squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry. She turned to walk away when Sharon stepped into her path. 

“Please, let’s talk.” 

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Brenda turned to go the other way. 

“Brenda!” Sharon called with frustration. 

“Fuck off.” Brenda snarled, attracting the attention of the people in the hallway around them. 

Sharon held up her hands in temporary surrender. “Okay,” she nodded slowly, “I’ll see you in debate. We can talk then.” 

**

“Open up.” 

Brenda opened her mouth and the school nurse put in the thermometer. Clenching the plastic instrument in her mouth, she concentrated really hard on trying to raise her body temperature. 

The thermometer beeped and the nurse pulled it out and looked at the read out. “You don’t have a fever.”

“I didn’t say I had a fever.” Brenda pouted. “I said I had a migraine.” 

“A migraine is not the same as a headache, Brenda, are you sure you have a migraine?” 

“Of course I know the difference. It’s horrible _pressure_ , makes me feel nauseous and see spots.” Brenda clutched her head in feigned pain. “My mama gets them too, it’s probably hereditary.” 

The nurse nodded, “I can’t give you anything too strong because there’s nothing in your medical records about migraines but I can give you a couple aspirin and let you lay down until it kicks in.” 

“Thanks.” 

“You might miss third period though.” 

Brenda shrugged. “Oh well.” 

The nurse shook two little aspirin out of the bottle into Brenda’s hand and Brenda stuck them in her mouth. When the nurse got up to get her a cup of water Brenda spit the pills quietly but quickly back into her hand and brushed them into the trash. 

Brenda accepted the water, taking a big gulp and making a show out of swallowing before downing the rest of the water. 

Brenda lay back on the hard cot in the back room of the nurse’s office, looking up at the ceiling in the dimly lit room. Lying there doing nothing for an entire class period with only her own tumultuous thoughts to keep her occupied she closed her eyes tightly, willing herself not to cry.

How had everything gone to hell in the course of a single week? She had gotten totally and thoroughly played by the worst person in school; she should have known better. She should have known that a look under the mask of sardonic quips and arrogantly pursed lips there’d just be more of the same. She’d alienated her only friends over the selfish witch. And worst of all she’d broken up with a boy who loved her with his whole heart – she didn’t think it mattered that he loved her more than she loved him because that probably would have come in time. 

Fritz Howard was the nicest, sweetest, most selfless person she’d ever met – basically the antithesis of Sharon Raydor. Why did Sharon Raydor make her feel so many things? 

Brenda turned on her side with a huff. Her mind raced back to the evening in the park – Sharon’s hands on her breasts, Sharon’s mouth on her – The bell rang loudly, startling Brenda from her thoughts and signaling the start of third period. 

It was going to be a very long forty five minutes. 

**

Sharon was already seated when Brenda entered the room. She just had to get through Lit and then maybe she could convince Andy to drive her home and she could start mending fences. She really didn’t want to be this close to Sharon but she couldn’t exactly con another period of napping out of the nurse. 

Sharon jumped up from her seat and slipped through one row of desks, toward Brenda when Priestly stepped into her path. “Ms. Raydor, where does R fall in the alphabet?”

Sharon sighed, “before S.”

She put her hands on Sharon’s shoulders and turned her back toward her own seat. “Which puts you over here between Mr. Ramos and Ms. Sinclair.” 

Brenda smirked to herself – Sharon had deserved that, at least someone was as mean to Sharon as Sharon was to everyone else. 

Ms. Priestly began writing an essay question up on the board. “We’ll begin our first drafts today in class – this will be a five page essay.” The whole class groaned as she continued on. 

Sharon quickly scrawled a note, folded it up and nudged Addison. Addison looked at the name on the front and was leaning to hand it to Brenda just as Priestly turned around. 

Sharon sighed heavily as the vindictive teacher snatched the note away from the redhead. “Thank you, Ms. Montgomery, I’ll take this.” Priestly unfolded the note and her eyebrows went up. “Oh, it’s from Ms. Raydor to Ms. Johnson.” 

Sharon sank down in her seat. 

Ms. Priestly cleared her throat, “it reads: Brenda, I’m really really sorry. Sharon.” She lowered the note and looked at Brenda’s fuming mad expression. “Judging by her face, I’d say apology not accepted.” 

She crossed through the row of desks and dropped the note on Sharon’s desk. “Pass notes in my class again and you _will_ be sorry.” 

Sharon grabbed it, crumpling it as she shoved it into her bag. “My note only had _one_ really.” She grumbled. 

“Call it creative license.” Priestly smirked. “And since you’re in the writing mood, you can write me an extra two pages.” 

Brenda ducked her head in an attempt to hide her bemused smirk. 

**

“Andy!” Brenda called, weaving through the other kids as she caught up with him at the door. 

He rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”

“A ride home and to talk.” She figured straight forward was her best bet with Andy. 

“Why should I?”

“Because Sharon Raydor is a bitch and y’all were right and I want to apologize and make it up to everybody.” 

He thought about this before sighing. “Okay, are you ready to go?”

“Yup!” Brenda smiled with relief. 

**

“I don’t want to go to school today.” Brenda pouted. 

Willie Rae put her hands on her hips. “Parta life is doing things you don’t want to.” 

“Mama, _please_ , can you call me in sick?” Brenda begged. “Please, please, please!”

Willie Rae held up Brenda’s lunchbox. Brenda sighed heavily, accepting the pink houndstooth bag. “Thanks…”

“Have a good day, Brenda Leigh.” 

**

Brenda skidded to a stop in front of the room for debate. She’d been doing a remarkable job of avoiding Sharon but had to bite the bullet and see her in debate – which didn’t mean she couldn’t get there right under the wire so she didn’t have to _talk_ to her. 

Brenda stepped inside just as the bell rang. 

Sharon was seated in the seat closest to the door and Brenda breezed past her and sat down next to Andy. Lou gave the back of Brenda’s head an unamused glare but leaned back in his chair when he realized no one was paying him any attention anyway. 

Will looked over his notes and said, “today we’ll have two people debate and then we’ll do a critique.” He flipped the page in his notebook, “topic is socialized healthcare. Sharon, you’re statement; Brenda, you’re rebuttal.” 

Sharon stood up slowly approaching the desks that were set up in the front of the room. Brenda scowled as she joined her. 

Will had a feeling in the back of his mind that something was off but he ignored it. “Sharon, you can start.” 

“Socialized healthcare has been proven to work by many countries including Canada, England and France – all of which have been our allies in recent history. By including the fee for healthcare in Americans’ federal income tax we ensure that all Americans have access to preventative and emergency medicine and it creates more equality in the treatment. The free market system has enabled insurance companies and hospitals to charge exorbitant prices, limiting most people’s options for treatment. We’re a country based on the ideal that all men are created equal and our access to appropriate care should be just as equal.” 

Brenda smirked. “My opponent is going to use big words and good looks and charm to convince you that socialist healthcare is amazing but once you have socialist healthcare then _bam_ you get all this shit and you wish you’d never had socialist healthcare in the first place.”

Sharon scowled. “You didn’t exactly put up a fight when I suggested socialist healthcare.” She huffed, “that’s just like you to want something and then piss and moan when it’s not exactly how you envisioned it. Socialist healthcare was great. You’re just being a little bitch about it now because it doesn’t come with all the benefits you expected it to.”

“You’re the one who’s being a bitch!” Brenda snapped. “You can your damn socialist healthcare.” 

“You know what? Fuck you. Maybe I had this great speech about why you should keep wanting socialist healthcare but maybe I don’t want to give it anymore.”

“Fuck _you_. You have no right to be mad at me. I wouldn’t want your socialist healthcare if it was the last socialist healthcare on the planet!” 

Will Pope, who was slowly recovering from the shock, stood and furrowed his brow. “Ladies. Hallway. Now.” 

Sharon and Brenda filed into the hallway, shooting daggers at each other.

“She started it.” Sharon frowned. 

“And you were under no obligation to finish it.” Pope scowled. 

“I want you to kick her off the team.” Brenda fumed. 

“You _both_ deserve to be sanctioned for whatever that was in there.” Pope fumed. 

“Don’t bother. I don’t need this hassle. I’m going back to my study hall.” She turned to Brenda, “get Fritz to join so you can go to the competition.” 

“That is low.” Brenda pursed her lips. 

“Ms. Raydor, you can’t just walk out of class.” Pope objected as Sharon started down the hallway. 

“ _Write me up_.” She snapped. “I’m going to the office.”


	7. Meet The Parents

Brenda looked longingly at her usual lunch table, expecting to be rebuffed but Lou beckoned her over – if somewhat reluctantly. She smiled gratefully and took her seat between Andy and Julio. 

Brenda unpacked the sandwich, sweet potato chips and double chocolate cookie and Julio broke off half the cookie and bit into it. Brenda knew she was back. 

She felt like she was a sucker for punishment but she looked around the crowded dining hall for Fritz. He was sitting with the rest of the baseball team and looked like he’d all but forgotten about Brenda as he smiled and joked with his friends. She had cheated on him and she felt like she’d irrevocably ruined the relationship and that she didn’t want it back anyway. He would move on and so would she. 

**

Seventh period rolled around and Brenda slipped in right before the bell. Her eyes landed on Sharon who looked distracted and forlorn. Seeing her looking so defeated made Brenda’s heart sink. She hadn’t been surprised by Sharon’s reaction to her in debate but seeing that their encounter had actually affected her Brenda began to feel differently. 

Throughout the class even Beastly Priestly gave Sharon a wide berth though Sharon barely said two words the whole period. 

When the bell rang Brenda watched Sharon leave and made sure there were at least three people buffer between them as she filed out. Brenda was trying to maintain a visual on Sharon as Andy stepped into her eye-line. 

“Do you want a ride today?”

“Uh… no. I have homework and I want to use the library computer. Thanks though.” 

Andy nodded, “see you tomorrow.”

Brenda looked for Sharon again but she’d disappeared into the crowd. Brenda had only reacted the way she had because she thought that Sharon didn’t care – and that had hurt Brenda’s feelings. Now it seemed that Sharon not only cared but that this time Brenda had hurt _her_ feelings. 

As she sat in the library, staring at the monitor of the slow-as-molasses school computer, she replayed all of the events that had transpired. To her dismay, Brenda discovered that, having a little bit of distance from the events, that she _had_ overreacted a little and that she should have given Sharon more of a chance to respond. 

It still even felt right that she’d given herself over to Sharon that night. After everything else, she actually had no regrets about it. She’d slept with Sharon _because she wanted to_ also and maybe Brenda’s motives weren’t so different from Sharon’s. 

Maybe Brenda owed Sharon a big apology. 

Brenda pulled out her cell phone and hovered over Sharon’s name and decided it was something that she ought to do in person. If only she knew Sharon’s address…

Brenda’s eyes landed on the door to the AV room. She clicked off the computer’s monitor and slipped into the AV room. Buzz Watson looked up from his computer and smiled at her. They’d taken a computer class together the previous semester. It was a required course and ordinarily it’s taken by freshmen but since Brenda had been a transfer student she had to take it as a junior. Despite being mostly freshman, Brenda didn’t exactly excel at it but Buzz was her desk partner and had helped her tremendously. 

Brenda pulled a chair up to Buzz’s computer. “Can I ask you a favor?” 

“You can _ask_.” 

Brenda smirked, “I need Sharon Raydor’s address. I was a jerk to her and I need to apologize in person.” 

“I’m not supposed to give out information like that.”

“But you have access to it?”

Buzz shrugged, “yeah…” His eyes shifted back to his computer, typing and clicking rapidly. “I’m sorry I can’t help you. I have to go to the bathroom. Don’t touch anything on the computer.” 

Buzz stood up and left the room. A few other AV kids typed at their own stations and didn’t even look up at Brenda. She switched to Buzz’s seat and smiled when she confirmed what she thought: he’d pulled up Sharon’s contact information. 

Brenda grabbed a pen and quickly scrawled the address on her hand and slipped out of the room. 

**

Brenda came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of a large house and looked down at the address she’d written on the palm of her hand. She sighed as she saw that gripping the handlebars on the way there had smudged the address. 

“You look a little lost.” 

Brenda looked up to see a man had just exited the house and was standing by the door of his suv. “Yeah. I… I’m looking for Sharon Raydor? We go to school together.” 

“Well, you’ve come to the right house but she’s not actually here right now.” 

Brenda deflated. “Oh.” 

Bill looked on sympathetically. “I’m going to meet her and her mother now. I could take you, if you’d like.” 

Brenda considered this for a moment before she nodded, “that would be great.” 

Bill crossed around to the back and offered his hand, “Bill Adama.” 

“Brenda Johnson.” Brenda smiled. “I’m really glad you were here. I didn’t think about what I’d do if I got here and no one was home. I mean, biked home but… yeah.” 

Bill helped Brenda get her bike into the back and then they got in and headed out. 

“Should you call or text someone to let them know where you’ll be?” 

“Where are we going exactly?” Brenda asked and suddenly had the distinct feeling she was probably far too trusting. 

“St. Catherine’s hospital.”

“The hospital?” Brenda repeated, stopping mid-text. 

“That’s where Sharon’s mother gets her treatment.” 

“Right.” Brenda nodded. 

Brenda didn't push Bill to elaborate. On the one hand, it seemed like something she should know if she and Sharon really were friends, on the other, Bill probably didn’t want to talk about it anyway. 

When they got to the hospital Bill led them directly to a room without having to ask anyone which room. When he stopped at a closed door, he knocked before entering. On the bed in the room was an exhausted looking woman who was most definitely Sharon’s mother. Sharon was the spitting image of this woman. Brenda wondered what it must be like to essentially watch an older version of yourself getting sick. 

Bill moved forward and they hugged and he kissed her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt worse.” She answered good-naturedly. 

“I picked up a stray.” Bill teased. 

“I see that.” Laura smiled at Brenda. 

“She was at the house looking for Sharon just as I was leaving.” 

“It’s lovely to meet one of Sharon’s friends.” Laura held out a hand for her. “I’m Laura Roslin.” 

Brenda almost felt guilty shaking her hand. “Brenda Leigh Johnson, ma’am.” 

“You definitely don’t have to call me ma’am. Feel free to call me Laura.” Laura smiled. “Sharon should be back any moment, she went to the cafeteria to get something to drink. Please feel free to wait here.” 

“I don’t want to impose.” 

“Non-sense.” Laura insisted. “We so rarely get to meet Sharon’s friends.” 

Brenda smirked to herself, thinking _that’s because your daughter makes ‘unapproachability’ an art form, ma’am_. 

Laura had a spark of recognition, “oh, you’re the friend who gave her the cake, aren’t you?” 

Brenda blushed a little. “Yes, that would be me.” 

“I practically inhaled that cake.” Laura grinned slyly. “I haven’t eaten that much in one sitting for as long as I can remember.” 

“I’m really glad you liked it.” Brenda said honestly. She’d been thinking that Sharon had thrown it away out of spite and she was genuinely happy that it had been eaten. 

“Are you also a senior too?”

“No, I’m a junior, ma’am – I mean, Laura.” 

“Brenda?” 

Brenda twirled around to see Sharon in the doorframe. Sharon furrowed her brow, “how did you...?”

“Bill gave me a ride.” Brenda chewed her bottom lip. “Can we… talk?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Sharon motioned for Brenda to follow her. She walked them down the hallway to a bench. 

The two sat for a few silent moments before Sharon spoke. “I’m not happy you came here.” Sharon said softly. 

Brenda shrugged, “I didn’t think you’d be _happy_ to see me. I just… thought maybe… I know was entirely selfish. I wanted to say I was sorry. I was upset. I shouldn’t have gone off on you in debate like that – aired our dirty laundry. I’m not sure how many of them pieced together what we were really talking about…”

“For a room full of future detectives they’re remarkably unobservant. I think your secret’s safe.”

“ _Our_ secret.”

“ _I’m_ not ashamed of it.” Sharon crossed her arms across her chest. 

“Don’t be like that. I’m not ashamed of it either; I just don’t think everyone needs to know everything about our sex life.” 

Sharon leaned closer to Brenda, “when you were dating a guy it was common knowledge.”

“Not really.” Brenda shook her head, “you didn’t know I was a virgin. And we’re not dating.” 

“No, we’re not.” Sharon agreed. 

“If we were I wouldn’t hide the fact that we were _dating_.” Brenda said and Sharon remained silent. 

She studied Sharon for a moment. She bit her lip; Sharon looked forlorn. “How’s your mother doing?”

Sharon shook her head sharply and her expression snapped back to serious and guarded. “You didn’t come here to talk about my mother. You came here to say you were sorry. I’ve accepted your apology and now we’re parting company.” 

Sharon stood up and took a few steps away from the bench. 

“Wait.” Brenda frowned. 

“I’ll come back to debate because I said I would do it and the regional debate is next week. But we’re not dating; we’re not even friends. We don’t have to pretend that what happened between us means anything. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” 

“My bike’s in Bill’s car.” Brenda objected. Sharon turned to face her squarely and Brenda saw something in Sharon’s eyes that she wasn’t able to read quickly enough to be confident so she said, “I’ll take the bus home – can you bring the bike to school tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Sharon nodded curtly and walked away. 

Brenda walked outside and pulled out her cell phone and dialed her father to ask him to come pick her up. 

Sharon entered Laura’s room and her mother and step-father both turned to her. “Where’s your friend?” Bill asked. 

“She’s taking the bus home. I’m going to bring her bike with me tomorrow.” Sharon sat down next to Laura. 

Laura took her hand, “it was nice to meet one of your friends. It’s been so long since you’ve invited anyone over.” 

“I didn’t invite her.” Sharon smirked. “I don’t even like her.” 

“Don’t bullshit your mother.” Laura smiled. “It’s impolite and ineffectual. Bill, will you excuse us for a moment.” 

“Oh my god, mom.” Sharon hid her face in her hands. “Please, please don’t try to give me the talk again. I’ve already told you I’m not a virgin.”

“And that’s my cue to leave.” Bill announced, his hands flying to his ears instinctively. “I’m going to take a walk…” 

“Okay, my love.” Laura smiled. She turned back to Sharon. “I’m going to guess you slept with her.”

Sharon sighed and nodded, accepting the futility of lying. “I slept with her.” 

“And now you don’t want to talk to her?”

“She threw a tantrum because I didn’t answer a couple of texts. Then she had a meltdown because I don’t _love_ her and I tried to apologize and she called me out in the middle of debate. I get that I’m not the easiest person to get along with and I’m intentionally mean sometimes but I thought maybe… I don’t know.”

“Oh, sweetheart. You thought she was able to see through your bluster and bravado; that she saw you for who you are not how you act.” 

“Ugh.” Sharon closed her eyes, “it sounds even more ridiculous when you say it. I’m not emotionally invested in Brenda Leigh Johnson. I wanted to sleep with her so I did.”

“Oh jeez. I thought you’d be done.” Bill said from the doorway. 

“We are. I’m done with this conversation.” 

“Bill, Sharon needs some advice.” 

“I do _not_.” Sharon protested. “I’m not dating her. We’re not friends. I want to stop talking about this.” 

“Alright. Just remember, honey, all this has happened before - ”

“Yeah, yeah, and it’ll happen again. I know, mom.” 

Laura smiled indulgently. “You know that I _say_ it but do you know what I _mean_?” When Sharon didn’t answer, Laura continued, “people get into these ruts where they make the same decisions over and over again whether they’re right or not and the same things always happen. So maybe if acting the way you do is having an effect that you don’t like you might want to try to make a change.” 

Sharon considered this for a moment but only nodded curtly. “Do you mind if I head home? I have a lot of homework to do.” 

“Of course I don’t mind. I appreciate you keeping me company but I never want it to interfere with school.” Laura held her arms open, “I love you, Sharon.” 

Sharon wrapped her arms around Laura, holding her close. She had to actively fight the tears that threatened to fall feeling her mother’s frail frame. “I love you, too, mom. So much.” 

Laura kissed Sharon’s cheek and smiled – doing her the courtesy of pretending she didn’t see Sharon’s wet eyes. 

**

Clay’s station wagon pulled up to the loading zone and Brenda got up from the sidewalk and got into the car. 

“Thanks for picking me up.” 

“No problem, kitten. I told your mother we’d pick something up for dinner. You in the mood for Chinese?” 

“Always.” Brenda smiled a little. 

Clay chuckled, “somehow I figured that might be the case.” 

The drive was unprecedentedly silent and Clay glanced over at his normally chatty daughter. “You’re quiet.” 

She considered her reply for a moment before saying, “I need some dating advice.” 

Clay smiled, “best talk to your mama about that.” 

“Actually… I think you might be better to talk to about this… it’s about a girl…” 

“Dating advice… about a girl…” he pondered this for a moment before nodding, “go on.” 

“Okay, well, we… _kissed_ … and then she didn’t call and I said some things and she said some things then she quit debate and I went to her and apologized and she said she’d rejoin debate but we’re not friends and…. I really like her. Which is crazy because she’s a huge pain and she’s kind of a jerk but I like her and I feel like I blew it.” 

“It probably depends on what things you said.” Clay suggested, “Some things can’t be forgiven as easily.”

“I said I wouldn’t want to be with her if she was the last person on earth – more or less.” 

Clay nodded thoughtfully, “yeah, that might be beyond flowers. Well, try to think of something that’s meaningful to her that shows that you’re serious about your apology.” 

“Like what?”

Clay laughed, “I wouldn’t even begin to guess.”


	8. The Grand Gesture Moment

The next day Brenda stood outside the front entrance of school waiting to see Sharon’s cherry red convertible drive by. She checked the time on her phone and cursed under her breath; the bell was about to ring and Sharon hadn’t shown up. 

She turned around and was on her way in when she stopped in front of the bike rack and realized that her bike was the first in the long row. Sharon had apparently gotten there early and she’d even secured the bike lock on. 

Brenda sighed – pretty elaborate way to avoid having to talk to her. The bell rang and Brenda grabbed her bag and took off at a run, “shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” 

When third period rolled around Brenda made sure to get there as fast as she could so she could observe Sharon. The bell rang and Sharon hadn’t arrived and Brenda sighed heavily, sinking into her seat. 

The door opened and Sharon asked, “Mr. Pope, may I talk to you for a moment?” 

Pope stepped out into the hallway with Sharon. Brenda struggled to hear what was being said but couldn’t make anything out and then both people returned to the room. Sharon took a seat apart from the rest of the group and class began. 

Brenda didn’t push her luck, deciding to hold off until she’d come up with her grand gesture moment. 

And the grand gesture moment continued to allude her right up until regionals. Brenda, Julio, Mike and Lou piled into Andy’s car, David’s parents drove him and Sharon drove herself. 

Sharon parked and put the top up before striding past Andy’s car and most of the rest of the team. “God, she sucks but I’d hit that seven ways from Sunday.” Lou groaned. 

Brenda smacked him in the shoulder. 

“All right, all right, don’t get your panties in a wad.” 

She smacked him again. 

“I would just stop talking now…” Andy suggested, taking off his sunglasses and stashing them in the glove compartment. 

“Would you say that if she was one of Andy’s exes?” Brenda folded her arms across her chest. 

“No, but she’s not…” Lou huffed. “She’s not anybody’s ex in this car.” 

Brenda sighed but remained silent. 

Andy and Lou turned abruptly from the front seats to stare at Brenda. “Are you shitting me?” Lou demanded. 

“I’m just saying.” Brenda held up her hands, “I don’t appreciate hearing you talk about her like that.” 

Andy, Lou, Julio and Mike stared at her dumbly as she got out of the car, greeting David as they walked to the building. 

“She was just trying to make a point about objectifying women, right?” Andy looked to Julio and Mike. 

Mike shrugged and Julio said, “I don’t know, man. Might explain some things.” 

“Oh my god…” Andy furrowed his brow. 

After the four gathered themselves back up they made it into the building and checked in and was instructed how to get to the backstage area where the rest of their team was waiting. David was talking to Brenda who looked distracted, glancing occasionally at Sharon who was doing her very best to avoid looking at anything other than her phone. 

There were several televisions placed evenly throughout the room and they were set to a twenty-four hour news channel. The sound was off but the captions transcribed the newscasters’ words. Sharon slipped her phone into her pocket and sat back to focus on the program. She sat through a segment on climate change and a segment on tensions in the middle east. 

Brenda hated herself for upsetting Sharon and she hated herself for not knowing how to fix it. 

Sharon checked the time again before rubbing her eyes and focusing on the television again. She was perfunctorily reading the captions but sat up rigidly when she read her mother’s name. **Breaking news, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin collapsed at a cabinet meeting this afternoon. Roslin was taken to the hospital unconscious. More on that as more information comes available.**

Sharon grabbed her bag and jumped up. Brenda looked at her questioningly but turned to the television in time to catch the tail end of the caption and jumped up after her. 

Sharon hurried out of the building. Pope saw her leaving and saw Brenda running after her. “Brenda, where are you going?” He asked, brow furrowed. 

“Sharon’s mother collapsed. We have to go.” Brenda answered quickly as she pushed through the double doors. 

As she got to her car she felt her hands shaking. The keys jingled in her hand as she tried to focus on sliding the key into the lock. 

“I’ll drive you.” Brenda said, coming up behind Sharon. 

“You’ll miss the regionals.” Sharon insisted, her shock starting to wear off and panic starting to register. 

“I don’t care. You can’t drive yourself like this.” Brenda put her hands on Sharon’s arms. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.” 

Sharon wordlessly held up the keys. 

Brenda gave Sharon a gentle squeeze and took the proffered keys. Sharon crossed to the other side and got into the car as Brenda started the Mustang. 

Sharon ran her fingers through her hair and then held her head in her hands. She sighed and shakily took her phone back out to call Bill but the phone beeped to alert her that she had no bars. “ _Damn it_.” 

Brenda reached out and put a hand on Sharon’s knee. Sharon took her hand and held it tightly. 

“Did I say thank you yet?” Sharon asked shakily. 

Brenda brought Sharon’s hand to her lips. “There’s nowhere else I’d be.” 

**

Brenda pulled into the parking lot, into a space and cut the engine. They got out and Sharon started to cross the parking lot and turned around to see that Brenda was lingering by the car. “Will you come with me?” 

Brenda smiled a little and hurried to catch up with her. Sharon took her hand and went inside and asked for Laura’s room number. 

Sharon rushed into the room and Laura smiled weakly, “I’m okay. I’m okay.” She held out her arms and Sharon folded against her. Laura ran her fingers over Sharon’s soft hair and kissed her temple. “I’m okay.” 

Bill came into the room, “Sharon, you’re here.” He put his cell phone back into his pocket. “I was trying to call you. She just got dehydrated. They’re giving her fluids now.” 

“I’ll be able to go home in a couple of hours.” Laura said reassuringly. She looked past Sharon’s shoulder to Brenda. “Nice to see you again. Next time maybe you’d like to come to the house for dinner?” 

Brenda smiled. “I hope you feel better.” 

Laura looked pointedly at Sharon and Sharon took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back.” 

Brenda followed Sharon out of the room and they found a semi quiet sitting area away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital. 

Sharon took another deep breath. “I know that I said we weren’t friends and I… Maybe we can start again? I know I’m not the easiest - ”

Brenda cupped Sharon’s cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. Sharon stiffened in surprise for a moment before slipping her fingers into Brenda’s hair and deepening the kiss.


End file.
